by JP Miklovic
The North Baltimore High School Tigers traveled to Vanlue for the final football game of the 2017 campaign, coming away with a BVC win 46 -19, securing a 6 – 4 record.
But most impressive were a couple of exceptional acts of sportsmanship by Vanlue and NB. The game was “over” in the 4th quarter, with the Tigers holding a commanding lead. First, one of NB’s seniors, Chase Naugle, who has had to sit out the entire season with a broken foot, came into the game to catch a 2 – yard touchdown pass from Brady Rader, “unchallenged”, thanks to Value.
Then, NB returned the favor, allowing Wildcat senior Caleb Bonham, who also missed the season with a broken leg, came in to score on a 15 – yard pass play, But to top it off, the kid kicked and made the PAT, even with the injuries to his plant foot! Awesome! And thank you to the coaches and players for this extraordinary act!
For the game, NB would score 21 points in the first quarter, with Kole Wymer scoring on 58 yard run (Levi Gazarek PAT good). Then Rader hit Gazarek on a 20 – yard TD play (PAT good), followed by a 49 – yard TD pass to Adam Flores. The Wildcats would score early in the 2nd quarter, but Rader would hit Wymer on a 22 yard TD pass, at the end of the first half to hold the lead at halftime 27 – 6.
Wymer would tack on two TD runs in the 3rd quarter of 1 and 8 yards. In the 4th period Rader hit the pass to Naugle.
NB was led by Wymer’s 239 rushing yards on 18 carries, with 3 TD’s. BVC leading quarterback Brady Rader put up 200 passing yards on 12 of 19, with 4 TD’s (to Wymer, Levi Gazarek, Adam Flores and Naugle). He did have 1 INT. David Patterson had 5 catches for 55 yards.
NB finishes the season with a 6 – 4 overall record. Their BVC record of 5 – 3 nets the Tigers a tie for 3rd in the Blanchard Valley Conference, with several other teams. Congrats to the Tigers for a fine season!
